South Sudan’s president Salva Kiir Mayardit
sent shock waves throughout the two-year old nation and issued a presidential
decree on Tuesday firing his longtime Vice President Riek Machar and dissolving
the entire cabinet.
The decision broadcasted by South
Sudan official TV removed all the ministers and deputy ministers of the
government and directed the undersecretaries to run their respective ministries
until further notice.
Kiir, who also the chairman of the
ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), also issued an order calling
for investigation of the party’s Secretary General, Pagan Amum accusing him of
inciting violence and criticising his actions.
A committee chaired by the speaker of
the parliament and SPLM deputy chairman James Wani Igga will be responsible for
probing Amum.
The move by the South Sudanese leader
against Machar and Amum sets a new chapter in the power struggle within the
SPLM which has mounted over the last year as several key figures moved to
challenge Kiir’s candidacy in the 2015 elections.
Earlier this month, Kiir removed his
former ally, the governor of Unity state Taban Deng, after reports saying he
campaigned in Washington to support Machar’s candidature for the presidency.
Not long before that, he suspended
cabinet affairs minister Deng Alor and finance minister Kosti Manibe over
corruption allegations.
Machar and Amum both made public
statements criticising Kiir’s actions against Governor Deng and the two
ministers, calling it a political decision and abuse of power by South Sudan’s
president.
Nhial Bol, editor in chief of the
independent Citizen newspaper, told Reuters that Kiir wanted to end the
paralysis of his government.
"Things have not been moving in
the government because of this internal fighting over who is going to control
the SPLM" he said.
However, western circles which were
expecting Machar’s removal believe that this move may deepen internal divisions
within the SPLM and impact negatively on the fragile stability of South Sudan.
They also fear that this will derail
the already faltering talks with Khartoum over a wide array of post-secession
issues. Machar and Amum were the two leading negotiators.
In Khartoum, a Sudanese diplomat
emphasised that any deals with Juba should not be impacted by the political
crisis in Juba.
Badr al-Deen Abdullah Mohamed Ahmed,
the head of the South Sudan department at the Sudanese foreign ministry, said
that the pacts were signed between two nations and that changes in governments
will not annul them.
In September of last year, both Sudan
and South Sudan signed a series of cooperation agreements, which covered oil,
citizenship rights, security issues, banking, border trade among others.
Last March, the two countries signed
an implementation matrix for these cooperation agreements.
But last June, the Sudanese president
Omer Hassan al-Bashir ordered the closure of all pipelines carrying oil from
South Sudan. He said that the move was in response to South Sudan’s funding of
rebels fighting his government.
Khartoum said that they will proceed
with the shutdown on August 7 if Juba continues, in their view, to support
Sudanese rebels.
But last June, the Sudanese president
Omer Hassan al-Bashir ordered the closure of all pipelines carrying oil from
South Sudan. He said that the move was in response to South Sudan’s funding of
rebels fighting his government.
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